


bats, plastic rings and angel wings

by 21byuns



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, faerie jongdae, happy halloween though here’s a vampire and a faerie, this started out bc of a tweet and turned into this mess, vampire baek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 08:24:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21250370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/21byuns/pseuds/21byuns
Summary: baekhyun flirts. jongdae deflects. somehow it works out between visits to each other’s respective work places





	bats, plastic rings and angel wings

jongdae has been maybe, possibly, definitely keeping tabs on the hot topic employee from across the way in the mall. so what? sue him. the guy is kind of hot in a weird murderous way and jongdae also senses he isn’t a human. or he is but...altered. jongdae would know. he’s not a human himself. 

he can smell everything in this godforsaken mall, especially considering the claire’s is right next to the food court and across from the hot topic. but the only smell he gets from the hot employee is...mold and dirt. which is odd because humans aren’t supposed to smell like mold and dirt. maybe there’s a reasonable explanation but jongdae doesn’t really think so. 

that smell gets closer and jongdae realizes that,  _ holy shit _ , hot guy is inside claire’s. the man sticks out like a sore thumb, all eyeliner, black hair and piercings covering every inch of his ears. the way he’s standing puts a kids set of angel wings behind his back and the irony causes jongdae to snort. 

“what’s funny?” the man asks upon hearing jongdae and he peeks his head around a display of clip on earrings. 

“you,” jongdae points at the wings behind the man and grins, “there were angel wings behind you but you seem to be far from it. what are you?” he knows he’s being blunt but there really isn’t any point in beating around the bush. 

the man frowns and jongdae swears he sniffs the air just slightly. his eyes lock on jongdae’s and they’re golden. “wouldn’t you like to know?” he grins a cheshire grin and winks before placing the ring he’d been toying with back on the display. 

in a few moments he’s gone and jongdae is left with his eyes narrowed and the slight trace of the dirt smell lingering in the air. 

-

“i swear to you he’s not a human. i think i know what he is but i don’t want to make assumptions,” jongdae explains to minseok as he stirs the soup on the stove. 

his friend - the only other faerie - stands next to him, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. 

“what do you think he is?”

jongdae raises an eyebrow, “isn’t it obvious?”

“if it was, why would i be asking you?”

he frowns at minseok. crosses  _ his  _ arms. “he’s a vampire. at least...i’m partially sure of it.” his nose wrinkles involuntarily when he remembers the other man’s smell. “when he walks it’s like a graveyard follows him. the smell. it’s unbelievable.”

“is that a good or bad thing to you?” minseok asks with a smirk and jongdae would hit him if it weren’t against their laws. 

“i regret speaking to you.”

minseok laughs and his hand comes up absentmindedly to stroke the gold circlet upon his head. 

“finish your soup and i’ll be gone. no need to burden me with your vampire problems any longer,” the black haired prince grins and bows with a flourish. within seconds he’s disappeared. 

“princes,” jongdae mutters and tastes the soup. “it’s ready when your highness decides to grace me with his presence again.”

being friends with other faeries once you’ve left the innermost circles is difficult. maintaining a friendship with the faerie prince is even more so. he pops into jongdae’s living room unannounced constantly and never really gives good advice. he’s beginning to wonder why he puts up with the other man. 

“you’re right he is a vampire,” minseok’s voice sounds from directly behind him and jongdae nearly jumps out of his skin. he turns around and smacks minseok with the soup spoon before relaxing and setting the table for both of them. 

“i regret keeping you around most of the time, but i knew you were good for something. how did you figure out?” jongdae asks between spoonfuls of soup. 

minseok drops his spoon with a hiss, “what did you put in here?” 

jongdae gives him a raised brow. “...it’s seaweed soup. the same seaweed soup i’ve cooked since we were kids.”

the faerie prince gives him a look of disbelief before carefully sipping on some more of the soup. he mutters something under his breath before glancing back up with a pleased look on his face, “i found out because…” he pauses with a baited breath and jongdae rolls his eyes, taking it.

“because?” he goads. 

“i popped into his home. it’s not that hard to find, he lives a couple buildings over in the complex next to the 7/11.”

jongdae leans back in his chair, scratches his stomach because he’s not...interested or anything. just. a little curious. “so how does that explain things?”

minseok gives him a look like he’s somehow supposed to already know. “he’s got loads of blood in his freezer,” he throws his hands in the air, “tons! i checked to make sure it was all animal though before leaving. i wouldn’t want to have to execute him.” 

“surely,” jongdae agrees sarcastically. 

his friend frowns, “you know i  _ could  _ if i wanted to.”

he nods, “yes, prince minseok, the all-powerful faerie. capable of staking a vampire through the heart or whatever.” he even adds a flourish of the hand for extra emphasis. 

“and you say  _ you  _ wonder why we’re friends still.” minseok finishes the soup quickly, almost like he’s pouring it down his throat rather than actually tasting it. “i have to go though, i’m needed for fancy prince business.” 

jongdae cleans up the table and waves him a half hearted goodbye. despite their petty banter, he misses being around minseok. he misses being home. it’s always shitty when the prince leaves. “see you whenever you decide to pop back in.”

minseok pats his head with a soft little look on his face, “see you when that is!” for a moment his eyes linger and he pinches jongdae’s cheek before disappearing. 

-

“no quips today?” the vampire says by way of announcement or greeting as he walks up the the counter of claire’s. the mother behind him pulls her daughter a little closer and away from him. jongdae stares at the three of them for a moment then faces the vampire again. 

“is that what you’d prefer?” 

he rolls his sleeves up just slightly, pushing the black and grey striped fabric up and jongdae’s eyes linger on the various bracelets. the vampire has nice wrists and hands. long and slender. elegant. unlike jongdae’s own. not like he’s ever hated his hands—

“i’d prefer your name actually,” said vampire interrupts jongdae’s thoughts and he tears his eyes away from the hands. not before noticing a thumb mole.  _ cute _ . 

when he meets the other’s eyes, they’re dark this time. not honeyed like yesterday though still just as striking despite the droopy appearance. it’s a piercing gaze that jongdae thinks could only belong to a vampire. his intuition is never off. he pats his back internally. 

“i’m wearing a name tag you know,” he tells him. 

“i’m baekhyun,” the vampire supplies and leans against the counter. his earrings glint in the artificial light of the jewelry store. jongdae notices it’s an upside down cross dangling from his cartilage. he snorts. 

“that’s great,” jongdae tells him. “are you going to buy anything or just stink up my store?” 

baekhyun’s eyes widen just a fraction before he slinks off the counter. “i’ll buy something if you tell me your name and what  _ you  _ are.”

the mother and daughter behind baekhyun still seem to be afraid of the overly intense way he dresses. maybe it’s the excessive earrings. maybe it’s the leather pants. but jongdae bets $10 that the mother is probably reciting her last will and testaments in her head at the moment. 

“you’re holding up the line. why don’t you buy something and find out?” 

baekhyun narrows his eyes, “you drive a hard bargain. but i suppose i can find something in here that suits me.” he wiggles his eyebrows and jongdae definitely doesn’t find it cute or endearing or puppy like. certainly. vampires aren’t cute. 

he holds back his grin, “i’m sure you’ll manage.”

a group of teenagers walk in and need help, one wanting a piercing. jongdae keeps a watchful eye on the vampire being an eye sore in his store while going about his duties. 

baekhyun sticks out like a sore thumb. all blacks and reds in a store full of glittery pastels. its a sight to see when he squats down to hand a little girl a pair of puppy dog earrings she dropped. she giggles and pats his head like  _ he’s  _ the puppy before her mom nervously pulls her up to the counter. 

finally the store clears out and the vampire walks up to the counter. he lies his purchases out in order. corgi earrings, strawberry earrings, strawberry flavored lip balm, a plastic clear and pink glitter ring and a fuzzy halo with matching angel wings. 

jongdae looks at the items, then up at baekhyun then down at the items again. “halloween costume?” he asks while ringing up the angel wings. 

“i figured we could match,” baekhyun says honestly. 

he gives the vampire an exasperated look. “you don’t even know my name and halloween is in a week.” 

it doesn’t seem to dampen the other’s spirit. “i’m fully aware. you’ll see though, by halloween, we’re going to be together,” baekhyun raises a finger, “and you’re going to match with me. be the devil to my angel.” 

jongdae laughs gently, “are you sure it won’t be the other way around?” he places all the purchases in a little purple paper bag, adding an extra little matching bracelet to the ring. it goes well with it. that’s what he tells himself to justify doing it. fashion purposes only. 

“i’m beginning to think not,” baekhyun grins and it’s all sorts of cute and puppy like and if jongdae’s heart doesn’t give a little extra bump at that. even the extra pointy canines factor into the cuteness. it shouldn’t be fair. a probably millennia old vampire, buying strawberry lip balm shouldn’t be adorable. and he most certainly shouldn’t be flirting with jongdae. 

“you know, i’ve already figured out what you are. you don’t go about hiding it that well,” jongdae tells him. 

baekhyun’s eyes do that thing again where they widen like he hadn’t meant to act surprised but he’s not quite good at hiding that either. 

“you’re very perceptive.” is all he says. 

“you’re not going to ask how i know?” 

baekhyun shakes his head. “all that matters is you know i guess. except now you have to tell me what you are,” he grins, entire demeanor changing in seconds. it’s difficult to keep up. “because you see, i’m perceptive too. i’ve been around for quite a long time. i just want to see if my intuition is as good as yours.” there’s that sly smile again. 

“a faerie,” jongdae crosses his arms, “my name is also jongdae. which you would know already considering it’s right here on my shirt. impressive intuition indeed.”

the vampire laughs shortly, his eyes flashing colors for just a moment. they appear darker than before. almost pitch black now as he levels jongdae’s stare. “i wanted to hear you say it of course. it’s no fun if i already know it. a name willingly given is the best kind of all.” 

“you better not write it in some centuries old summoning book or whatever it is you guys do,” jongdae threatens, picking up an elastic hair tie and flinging it at baekhyun. 

the man giggles. seriously giggles and picks up the hair tie, handing it back to jongdae with a roll of his eyes. “i’m not going to steal your soul or anything like that. honestly, i’d be more afraid you’ll use some of your faerie tricks on me.” 

“and what tricks are those?”

“using your magic to turn me into a bat forever.”

jongdae fixes baekhyun with a flat look. “you don’t seriously turn into a bat… do you?”

baekhyun tucks some of his hair behind his ear. it causes his bracelets to fall down his wrist and jongdae doesn’t know where to look. 

“if i say yes will you turn me into one?” 

“i don’t really know how to answer or process whatever that is supposed to mean,” jongdae tells him honestly. 

another customer walks in, disrupting their conversation and that seems to bring both of them back into the real world. the sounds of the mall around them become evident and jongdae’s senses are once again overwhelmed by the smell of cinnamon pretzels and dirt. 

“i was serious about stinking up my store,” he tells baekhyun with a tiny smile. “you smell like a graveyard by the way.”

baekhyun laughs, “it comes with the deadness.” he pauses before stepping out, “come visit me across the walkway tomorrow. i was serious when i said by the end of the week, we’d be together.” he sends a wink at the end of his little speech and jongdae doesn’t think it’s attractive or anything. not even when baekhyun’s sharp canine sticks out just in the slightest when he grins. not at all. 

-

evidently, jongdae doesn’t know what’s good for him because he finds himself… across the walkway… in the hot topic the very next day. 

he hears baekhyun before he sees him, the vampire’s laugh reverberating through the store despite the loud metal music. it’s a wonderful laugh and jongdae hates that he thinks it’s another point to baekhyun’s adorableness. 

he manages to find his way to the counter, having to push through racks of superwholock merch that should’ve been discontinued years ago. 

“jongdae! you came!” baekhyun announces like they’ve been friends for years instead of just a day. his brain pauses on the word friends and he wonders if that  _ is  _ in fact what they are. an odd friendship. a vampire and a faerie walk into a bar sort of thing. 

baekhyun’s voice causes his coworker to turn around and take note of jongdae. the guys name tag says taemin. his dark aqua hair is the first thing jongdae notices. the smell is the second. it seems he too is a vampire. 

“so you’re the little faerie princess baekhyun mentioned? you don’t seem very princess like, or faerie like to me,” taemin tells him and licks his lips seemingly out of habit. his eyes are blood red, though despite this his entire face radiates a sort of child like energy. jongdae thinks he’s probably a young vampire judging by everything. 

“i’m childhood friends with the faerie prince, if that counts for something,” he tells taemin. 

the other vampire nods and doesn’t really say anything further. his eyes dart back and forth rapidly and he jumps off of the stool he was sitting on, “i’m going on lunch,” is all they get before he’s heading towards the food court. 

“he’s new to it all i’m guessing?” 

baekhyun nods and takes taemin’s place on the stool. “that’s why i’m here in the first place, it’s easy for us to blend in here. pale, kind of smelly, weird,” he trails off and runs a finger over his lips. jongdae stares at it as he leans against the counter. 

“i’m trying to help him get used to it all, so i was forced to work here while he adjusts. a favor to a friend,” baekhyun continues. “but that’s enough about me, i’m  _ glad  _ you decided to show. given any thought about the costumes?”

“why do you so badly want me to go with you dressed as a devil?” jongdae asks. he tries to meet baekhyun’s eyes but the other is looking behind him. 

a couple is walking in and asking if there’s something in stock and jongdae just awkwardly stands to the side wondering now how it felt for baekhyun to be inside claire’s. his pink and white striped sweater and dangling silver earrings definitely don’t fit with the now screamo music playing over the speakers. 

baekhyun is great at customer service, jongdae notes. the vampire is all bright smiles and laughs as he strides around the store, making easy small talk with the customers. it helps that he looks otherworldly: deep, dark auburn hair, black leather pants studded down the side and of course a flowing black top with a deep V down the front which jongdae thinks could be out of dress code for work but the various necklaces baekhyun wears covers most of his bare skin up. the vampire is downright stunning and definitely knows so if the way he keeps looking back at jongdae with little smirks is anything to go by. 

eventually the customers check out and baekhyun resumes his spot on the stool, head and cheeks in his hands, staring back at jongdae. the least vampire looking vampire - he’s more of a puppy than anything that could be blood sucking and powerful enough to break a human in half. 

“i’m not going to wear the costume,”

jongdae tells him adamantly. “i also don’t know where you assume we’ll be together by the end of this week, but i think you’re thinking too highly of yourself.” 

baekhyun looks considerably shocked for just a moment before he rebounds with a smirk, “you say that now, but my wooing skills are out of this world. i’ve had hundreds of thousands of years to perfect them.”

“and  _ i  _ am also hundreds of thousands of years old. with hundreds of thousands of years of practice at saying no.” 

this doesn’t seem to deter the vampire as he just pokes jongdae’s nose - it wasn’t cute - and laughs, “i suppose, if that’s what you think.”

-

“chanyeol, i kind of think a vampire is cute and i kind of want to wear matching halloween costumes with him this weekend but i can’t let him know this because i have to win,” jongdae tells his friend over the phone. 

despite chanyeol being human, he’s open and accepting of the fact that humans aren’t the only thing on this planet aside from animals. the dude is about as easy going as one can get. he also happens to be wonderful at advice giving.

“is doing what you’re doing now not working?” chanyeol asks. there’s a bark on the other end and he hears chanyeol talking to his dog. he’s reminded immediately of baekhyun’s puppy like tendencies and he cringes at the way his brain works. 

“of course not. i’ve only known him for four days now and i think he’s the hottest thing since 1742,” jongdae whines. 

“that was a good year for you,” chanyeol muses. it was a good year. jongdae had dated this one other faerie named junmyeon from 1741 into the summer of 1742 until they mutually broke up after deciding a relationship wasn’t what they wanted. junmyeon was hot though, not necessarily in the way baekhyun is but in a sort of refined way. where junmyeon always seemed to never have a hair out of place, baekhyun only ever had one in place, but it  _ worked  _ for him. 

“that’s the problem, he makes me want to get to know him more.”

chanyeol laughs through the phone, “why is that a problem?”

“because then i’ll lose.”

“what are you five?”

“five thousand and twenty one actually.”

a beat of silence on the other end. “fuck you’re old ” chanyeol sighs. “just go with him this weekend to his dumb halloween party or whatever it is. it’s not like it’s the end of the world if he wins this one  _ thing  _ you guys have going on. you have thousands of years to figure it out anyways.”

“i wish you weren’t right so much.”

“i wish you’d call at a time that isn’t 3am,” chanyeol refutes. 

-

“how about, instead of spending today at work, we call out and go do something?” baekhyun suggests by way of greeting as he strides into claire’s. 

yesterday he’d come in and talked jongdae’s ear off for nearly three hours before realizing he shouldn’t have left taemin alone at hot topic and ran back about as quickly as a vampire would’ve without a stake being pointed at them. 

minseok popped in for a brief second that night and jongdae talked his ear off about baekhyun before the faerie prince ran off on account of having to plan for their huge halloween party. 

jongdae snorts and crosses his arms. “what, like a date?”

baekhyun nods, “yes exactly like that. i’m asking you on a date.”

he supposes there’s no point in really denying baekhyun. all he has to do is get someone to come in and cover his shift. so he calls and gets it situated and while waiting for his coworker to come in, checks baekhyun out again. this time the vampire buys another tube of the strawberry lip balm and a purple version of the ring he bought before. 

jongdae’s coworker, kyungsoo gets there and gives he and baekhyun a once over that is all too obvious and has jongdae pulling baekhyun out of the store before kyungsoo can say anything too damming. 

once they make it out of the store baekhyun grasps jongdae’s hand and slides the purple ring down on his ring finger. he holds up his hand next to jongdae’s and low and behold the pink ring rests on his ring finger. baekhyun grins brightly, canines shining, “see? matching.”

“you know, for a vampire, you’re not very dark, mysterious or broody,” jongdae says hoping to change the subject and divert attention from his quickly reddening face. 

baekhyun laughs a bit too loudly and links his arm with jongdae’s. “i only appear that way to people who don’t quite know me. i think it’s the droopy eyes,” he whispers the last bit conspirataly against the shell of jongdae’s ear. 

they make it out of the mall and onto the streets in no time and baekhyun tells jongdae about all his years of living. he has very interesting stories and even some that are quite sad. 

jongdae learns that a stake to the heart won’t kill a vampire, no. holy water is also a no, though it stings a bit. yes, his soul is dammed but baekhyun says he was going to hell anyways. he laughed when jongdae even mentioned garlic but he never gave an answer. jongdae is still on the fence about whether to show up to baekhyun's party now wearing garlic. 

“what about you? i’ve told you about my whole life,” baekhyun asks, swinging their arms back and forth. “i even divulged to you my secrets about blood sucking. i wanna know more about you.”

jongdae knocks his shoulder into baekhyun’s, “there’s not much interesting about me.”

baekhyun pokes his cheek, “sure there is. you’re five thousand something years old right? you said something around that age. you must have stories.”

he pauses for a moment, debating on whether to tell baekhyun everything or not. ultimately, lying would do him no good so he gives up. 

“i have been betrothed to the faerie prince since before i was born, but neither of us want to be together so i was forced to leave our community and now i work at claire’s in a mall.”

“i think there’s a lot there to unwrap but for now, i’m just glad you told me. good thing we have years and years to talk about it,” baekhyun teases and tugs him forward into the tea shop on the corner. 

jongdae laughs but he’s starting to enjoy baekhyun’s enthusiasm, “i don’t know where you’re getting this from but i think you’re delusional baekhyun.”

“i’ll prove you wrong, you’ll see.” the redhead simply smiles a different than normal smile. it’s soft and reassuring. like maybe he’s reassuring himself instead of jongdae. it pulls at his heart. maybe he should be a bit kinder to the vampire. 

“buying me some oolong tea is a good head start though,” he mentions offhandedly and the grin that spreads across the vampires face is priceless. 

-

he does, in fact, prove jongdae wrong. 

they didn’t end up together at the end of the week - though not without baekhyun’s diligent attempts - but they’ve been together for about five years now. 

jongdae did end up going to baekhyun’s little house party filled with various other creatures jongdae was never sure actually existed. werewolves, sprites, a demon and a ghost. the vampire seemed to have friends in every walk of life. it was incredible. 

jongdae also ended up dressing up as a devil and much to his displeasure he enjoyed it. when he spotted baekhyun with the angel wings he’d been reminded of the first time he saw the vampire and his heart had softened. 

they kissed. twice. because jongdae wasn’t a vampire and he couldn’t hold his alcohol the way baekhyun could. 

“you know, i lied when i said you stunk up my store. i think you smell good even if you smell dead,” jongdae had told him, alcohol clouding his judgement. 

“did  _ you know  _ that i think you’re the most adorable faerie i’ve ever met?” 

“first of all, i’m the  _ only  _ faerie you’ve met. second of all,” jongdae had paused, “i could stand to hear it a few more times.”

baekhyun had smirked and pressed his lips to jongdae’s. “good, cause we have plenty of time for me to do just that.” 

**Author's Note:**

> to be Honest this is the quickest thing i’ve ever written and i finished it at 2am halloween morning so...my apologies if it’s a complete mess. happy halloween tho :’)
> 
> talk to me on twt [@baekdaelight](https://twitter.com/baekdaelight) i’m kinda cool or something like that


End file.
